Prizefighter Takes Break From Training in Colorado Springs to Visit Hometown Team

DENVER—WBC-USNBC national cruiserweight champion Ryan Coyne joined his hometown-favorite Cardinals at pre-game batting practice on Saturday at Coors Field in Denver before the Cards took on the Rockies. Coyne was lucky enough to spend some time at the cage with Major League Baseball’s three-time National League Most Valuable Player Albert Pujols.

They posed for photographers with Pujols landing “one on the kisser” of Coyne. Maybe Pujols should have enlisted Coyne to land a few punches on the Rockies’ before the game on Saturday as the home team went on to defeat the Cards 15-4.

Coyne has set up his camp in Colorado to gain the benefits of high-altitude training before making his first world title appearance on June 25 against defending WBA cruiserweight champion Guillermo Jones (37-3-2, 29 KOs), from Panama, at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo.

Tickets priced at $25, $50, $125 and $300 are on sale now and can be purchased at the Family Arena Box Office, all MetroTix outlets including online at metrotix.com or charge by phone at (314) 534-1111. All tickets include parking.

Coyne graduated from St. Charles High School where he was named “St. Charles County Football Player of the Year” in 2001. He played collegiate football at University of Missouri from 2001 to 2002. Injuries shortened his football career, and he returned to St. Charles to pursue a boxing career while earning a bachelor’s degree from Lindenwood University in 2005. Coyne also is known for having fought into the semi-finals during the fourth season of The Contender, televised on Versus, before suffering an accidental headbutt that forced him to leave the competition.